In December 2017, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) completed its primary task of prosecuting crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Yugoslav wars. Hardly any of its decisions passed without controversies. However, dissatisfaction with and public denials of the last ICTY verdicts can be seen as an indication that the prosecution of war crimes left many questions regarding the establishment of transitional justice in the post-Yugoslav region still open. What have ICTY judgments achieved in terms of justice making in the former warring countries? To which extent did the ICTY verdicts contribute to a process of national and regional reconciliation? What was the role of the ICTY indictments in contesting or reproducing the dominant war narratives among the countries? Was responsibility for the committed crimes in the name of a collectivity adequately assumed?

This workshop featuring speakers from academic institutions and NGOs, aims at elaborating these questions. It will be focused, in particular, on specifying legal and political mechanisms of transitional justice, their moral justification and the possibilities for their application within the post-Yugoslav social and political context.

Admission is free and open to the public, but places are limited. For further information and registration, please contact Perica Jovchevski, jovchevski_perica@phd.ceu.edu

Visegrad Scholarships at Blinken OSA: a scholarship for academics, artists and journalistsFor a better and deeper understanding of the interdependent recent history of (the center of) Europe, the International Visegrad Fund offers research fellowship grants at the Open Society Archives at Central European University, Budapest, to support scholars, artists and journalists who wish to conduct research in the holdings of OSA. The next submission deadline is March 15, 2018.

On January 10, 2018, Blinken OSA co-organized and hosted the Symposium on Refugee Rights in Records.The final report of the symposium summarizes the key topics covered by invited speakers from international bodies, NGOs, archives and academic institutions, raises research questions and delineates possible avenues of development for the project.

A succesful professional cooperation of European professional institutions aimed at the common experience of the citizens of the former Eastern Block in connection with 1956.

Europe for Citizens: Remembrance 2016 "Year 1956. Societies of Central Europe versus communism" project with the participation of the KARTA Foundation, Ustav pro Studium Totalitarian Rezimu, Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur, and the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives at Central European University aimed at collecting source materials in Poland, Germany, Czech Republic and Hungary – fragments of documents (leaflets, proclamations, speeches, chronicles, reports, etc.) and individual testimonies (diaries, memoirs, reports, letters etc.) on the common experience of the citizens of the former Eastern Bloc, which is the result of political thaw of 1956.

The result of the project, an educational booklet is available on the Internet in English, German, Polish, Russian, Czech, Hungarian and Slovak on creative commons license.

The first American multi-reel film carried a multiplied risk of profit loss due to its shear length and therefore needed the backing of the White House and the Federal Supreme Court against the local licensing authorities of New York City and Boston (both determined against the release of the film). And that cooperation served to promote the spirit of white supremacy.

Organized by the Center for Information as Evidence, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Liverpool Centre for Archive Studies (LUCAS), and the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives at Central European UniversityThis symposium will feature speakers from a range of international bodies, NGOs, archives and academic institutions who will speak to ways in which official records (including bio-records) and bureaucracies, archival documentation, and other more "irregular" forms and uses of records play crucial roles in the lives of displaced people as they travel across state boundaries, interact with governments and aid agencies, and eventually resettle into new countries and interface with their bureaucratic systems or return/are returned to their places of origin.

To complement its public programs which engage the general public in Budapest, in 2016 Blinken OSA launched a special Education Outreach Program to connect with and involve K-12 level teacher and student communities in Hungary. In 2016-2017 a total of 11 education outreach projects involved 2652 students, 190 teachers in 161 high schools and universities from 44 towns and cities across Hungary.

The Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives (Blinken OSA) at Central European University, one of the initiators of the Open Access movement awards a fellowship each year either to an unconventional technology expert early in his/her career, or a scholar or activist working at the intersection of humanities, social sciences and technology studies or technological solutions. The fellowship is principally intended for those, with or without a degree, who have strong practical skills in developing technological tools to make knowledge and data broadly available to the public; who have an interest in challenging information management practices in libraries and archives; who are ready to contribute to building innovative visual taxonomies or catalogs based on unorthodox ideas; and who can challenge the control of information by governments and publishers to promote civil liberties and online activism.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague sentenced Ratko Mladić, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) to life imprisonment for genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in 1992-1995. Mladić committed these crimes through his participation in, or contribution to four joint criminal enterprises, and was eventually found guilty “of genocide and persecution, extermination, murder, and the inhumane act of forcible transfer in the area of Srebrenica in 1995; of persecution, extermination, murder, deportation and inhumane act of forcible transfer in municipalities throughout BiH; of murder, terror and unlawful attacks on civilians in Sarajevo; and of hostage-taking of UN personnel.”

On the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, Blinken OSA presents a unique program series under the title "The Traces of Revolutions". In Blinken Osa's Galeria Centralis László Rajk's installation will be complemented by a historical exhibition, a student debate is organized about the revolution, the experiment of communism will be discussed at a conference. A film screening series will reflect upon the era, and a play by Heiner Müller (Mauser) will be staged, with Eszter Csákányi, Dávid Csányi, Gergő Kaszás and Blanka Mészáros appearing in the leading roles.

An outstandingly talented programmer and activist, the founder of RSS and contributor to the creation of Reddit and Creative Commons among numerous other projects and campaigns, Aaron Swartz (November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013) took his own life at the age of 26. He was under federal indictment for alleged computer crimes.In line with the ideals Aaron Swartz fought for, one of the aims of the Open Society Archives is to broaden access to primary sources by overcoming technical, legal, geographic, and socio-cultural barriers. István Rév, director of Blinken OSA remembers Aaron Swartz.

In November, 2017 on the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, Blinken OSA presents a unique program series under the title "The Traces of Revolutions". In Galeria Centralis László Rajk's installation will be complemented by a historical exhibition, a student debate is organized about the revolution, the experiment of communism will be discussed at a conference. A film screening series will reflect upon the era, and a play by Heiner Müller (Mauser) will be staged with Eszter Csákányi, Dávid Csányi, Gergő Kaszás and Blanka Mészáros appearing in the leading roles.

When Gagarin Was Still at School – The Mesmerizing World of Soviet Film Propaganda

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage in Blinken OSA

October 27, 2017, 4:00 p.m.

On the occasion of the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, the Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives (OSA) is organizing an event including a presentation on archiving films and a film screening, with a focus on the history and processing of a collection of Soviet films held in Budapest.

Somewhere in Europe – Gaudiopolis1. GUIDED EXHIBITION TOURSSomewhere in Europe – Gaudiopolis October 9 – 29; Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Venue: 1051 Budapest, Arany János utca 32.Registration: Anikó Kövecsi (kovecsia@ceu.edu) 361-327-3250(The tour takes about 45 minutes)2. OUR CITY – DRAMA PEDAGOGY WORKSHOPWorkshops are lead by Szabolcs Szirony and Anikó Kövecsi. (drama pedagogy advisor: Rodrigó Balogh)October 17, Tuesday 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. (the session is 2 hours, a maximum of 30 students per group are accepted) October 18, Wednesday 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. (the session is 2 hours, a maximum of 30 students per group are accepted)October 19, Thursday 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. (the session is 2 hours, a maximum of 30 students per group are accepted)The program is free of charge. Registration deadline: October 13, 2017. Contact: Anikó Kövecsi (kovecsia@ceu.edu) 327-3250Venue: Blinken OSA Archívum, 1051 Budapest, Arany János utca 32. Because the number of participants is limited, early registration is recommended. When applying please give the full name of your school, the number of students participating, the date and time chosen, and the telephone number of the contact teacher.

Gaudiopolis was one of the many smaller communities in Hungary that set out to build a better world on the ruins of the previous one. The exhibition presents the history of Gaudiopolis along with similar initiatives that were most often born out of the courage, the perseverance and enthusiasm of private individuals (or smaller groups) who were driven by their beliefs in a just and equal society. The exhibition closes on October 30, 2017. As part of the finissage a guided tour will be held by the curator at 4:00 p.m.

On 24-25 September, a two-day workshop evoked the spirit of Gaudiopolis, the self-governing children’s republic, with the participation of children from Cseppkő Children’s Home and Fészek Waldorf School in Solymár - under the creative guidance of Architecture Uncomfortable Workshop, Budapest (AUW).